rivets help

[cat5cable]

aluminium rivets are easy to use can stainless rivets be put in using the same rivet gun ??

ta
timmy

 

[sailorman]

i would doubt it unless you use a Pro rivet tool / setter
how about using "Monel" rivets

 

[boatmike]

Depends what gun you have. Cheapo DIY ones won't have the mechanical advantage but if you have a good quality one it will deal with any material rivets

 

[Poignard]

There was a thread about rivetting last year. Here it is.

 

[oldsaltoz]

"Monel" rivets are much stronger than alloy but are better than stainless when it comes to corrosion problems.

 

[earlybird]

I have a cheapo hand rivet gun, which has a 3/16 inch nozzle, for aluminium rivets only, according to the box. In practice I've used it to set 3/16 inch monel rivets. To do this however, you need either super-human hand strength, or, in my case, close the handles with a G-clamp. It goes with a bit of a bang, but so far it has lasted. I wouldn't recommend this for regular use.

 

[cat5cable]

many thanks all

tim

 

[smth448]

I used to do exactly the same. Worked well until the handle on the riveter snapped.
Use a decent pair of lazy tongs or a long handled riveter and you shouldn't have a problem. Even they can have trouble with 1/4 inch monel rivets.

 

[Drascomber]

I have some "monel" rivits which look very similar in colour to aluminium ones. How do you tell the difference?

 

[smth448]

Monel ones are a darker grey colour than aluminium ones. You can certainly tell when you try to pull them up with a riveter. They take far more grunt!

 

[Malish]

I managed to break a lazy tong riveter using monels - buy one with a 5-year guarentee and keep the receipt!

 

[spinny]

[ QUOTE ]
I have some "monel" rivits which look very similar in colour to aluminium ones. How do you tell the difference?

[/ QUOTE ]
monel's natural colour is a dark grey, but some manufacturers colour them to make them look more attractive. Mainly they are coloured silver but I have seen gold coloured monel rivets. I don't know the exact method how they colour them but I'm guessing it's something along the lines of 'anodizing'.
If you're not sure that the rivets you've got are monel or aluminium just scratch one of the mandrels down the body of the rivet. If it is aluminium it will make a gouge in the metal. If it's monel it won't make any mark on the metal - because monel is 'well hard'.

 

[charles_reed]

They could

and are, more probably, stainless steel. Monel is both expensive and difficult to find.

Stainless 306 is marginally harder than monel, so even more difficult to draw and corrodes aluminium rapidly (unless you use Duralac), 304 is easier to draw and most fixings appear to be in 304.

Monel is usually darker and slightly more matt than stainless, both will resist scratching better than aluminium.